<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
  "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">


<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    
    <title>knife environment &mdash; chef-client Man Pages</title>
    
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/guide.css" type="text/css" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" />
    
    <script type="text/javascript">
      var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = {
        URL_ROOT:    './',
        VERSION:     '',
        COLLAPSE_INDEX: false,
        FILE_SUFFIX: '.html',
        HAS_SOURCE:  true
      };
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/jquery.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/underscore.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/doctools.js"></script>


  </head>
  <body>
<div style="background-color: #212c35; text-align: left; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px">
<a href="http://docs.getchef.com/"><img src="_static/chef_html_logo.png" border="0" alt="Chef"/></a>
</div>


  

    <div class="document">
      <div class="documentwrapper">

          <div class="body">
            
  <div class="section" id="knife-environment">
<h1>knife environment<a class="headerlink" href="#knife-environment" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>An environment is a way to map an organization&#8217;s real-life workflow to what can be configured and managed when using Chef server. Every organization begins with a single environment called the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">_default</span></tt> environment, which cannot be modified (or deleted). Additional environments can be created to reflect each organization&#8217;s patterns and workflow. For example, creating <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">production</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">staging</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">testing</span></tt>, and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">development</span></tt> environments. Generally, an environment is also associated with one (or more) cookbook versions.</p>
<p>The <strong>knife environment</strong> subcommand is used to manage environments within a single organization on the Chef server.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">Review the list of <a class="reference internal" href="knife_common_options.html"><em>common options</em></a> available to this (and all) knife subcommands and plugins.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="compare">
<h2>compare<a class="headerlink" href="#compare" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">compare</span></tt> argument is used to compare the cookbook version constraints that are set on one (or more) environments.</p>
<p><strong>Syntax</strong></p>
<p>This argument has the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment compare <span class="o">[</span>ENVIRONMENT_NAME...<span class="o">]</span> <span class="o">(</span>options<span class="o">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p><strong>Options</strong></p>
<p>This argument has the following options:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-a</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--all</span></tt></dt>
<dd>Use to upload all environments found at the specified path.</dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-m</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--mismatch</span></tt></dt>
<dd>Use to show only matching versions.</dd>
</dl>
<p><strong>Example</strong></p>
<p>To compare cookbook versions for a single environment:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment compare development
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>to return something similar to:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre>           development
apache     2.3.1
windows    4.1.2
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>To compare cookbook versions for multiple environments:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment compare development staging
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>to return something similar to:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre>              development    staging
apache        2.3.1          1.2.2
windows       4.1.2          1.0.0
postgresql    1.0.0          1.0.0
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>To compare all cookbook versions for all environments:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment compare --all
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>to return something similar to:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre>                   staging  development
<span class="nb">ulimit             </span>latest   latest
redisio            latest   latest
journly            latest   latest
aws                latest   latest
<span class="nb">test               </span>latest   latest
unicorn            latest   latest
sensu              latest   latest
runit              latest   latest
templater          latest   latest
powershell         latest   latest
openssl            latest   latest
rbenv              latest   latest
rabbitmq           latest   latest
postgresql         latest   latest
mysql              latest   latest
ohai               latest   latest
git                latest   latest
erlang             latest   latest
ssh_known_hosts    latest   latest
nginx              latest   latest
database           latest   latest
yum                latest   latest
xfs                latest   latest
apt                latest   latest
dmg                latest   latest
chef_handler       latest   latest
windows            1.0.0    4.1.2
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="create">
<h2>create<a class="headerlink" href="#create" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">create</span></tt> argument is used to add an environment object to the Chef server. When this argument is run, knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">ENVIRONMENT</span></tt> description field (unless a description is specified as part of the command). When finished, knife will add the environment to the Chef server.</p>
<div class="section" id="syntax">
<h3>Syntax<a class="headerlink" href="#syntax" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment create ENVIRONMENT_NAME -d DESCRIPTION
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="options">
<h3>Options<a class="headerlink" href="#options" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following options:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-d</span> <span class="pre">DESCRIPTION</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--description</span> <span class="pre">DESCRIPTION</span></tt></dt>
<dd>The description of the environment. This value will populate the description field for the environment on the Chef server.</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<div class="section" id="examples">
<h3>Examples<a class="headerlink" href="#examples" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:</p>
<p><strong>Create an environment</strong></p>
<p>To create an environment named <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">dev</span></tt> with a description of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">The</span> <span class="pre">development</span> <span class="pre">environment.</span></tt>:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment create dev -d <span class="s2">&quot;The development environment.&quot;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="delete">
<h2>delete<a class="headerlink" href="#delete" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">delete</span></tt> argument is used to delete an environment from a Chef server.</p>
<div class="section" id="id1">
<h3>Syntax<a class="headerlink" href="#id1" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment delete ENVIRONMENT_NAME
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id2">
<h3>Options<a class="headerlink" href="#id2" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This command does not have any specific options.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id3">
<h3>Examples<a class="headerlink" href="#id3" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:</p>
<p><strong>Delete an environment</strong></p>
<p>To delete an environment named <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">dev</span></tt>, enter:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment delete dev
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Type <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">Y</span></tt> to confirm a deletion.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="edit">
<h2>edit<a class="headerlink" href="#edit" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">edit</span></tt> argument is used to edit the attributes of an environment. When this argument is run, knife will open $EDITOR to enable editing of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">ENVIRONMENT</span></tt> attributes. When finished, knife will update the Chef server with those changes.</p>
<div class="section" id="id4">
<h3>Syntax<a class="headerlink" href="#id4" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment edit ENVIRONMENT_NAME
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id5">
<h3>Options<a class="headerlink" href="#id5" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This command does not have any specific options.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id6">
<h3>Examples<a class="headerlink" href="#id6" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:</p>
<p><strong>Edit an environment</strong></p>
<p>To edit an environment named <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">devops</span></tt>, enter:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment edit devops
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="from-file">
<h2>from file<a class="headerlink" href="#from-file" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">file</span></tt> argument is used to add or update an environment using a JSON or Ruby DSL description.</p>
<div class="section" id="id7">
<h3>Syntax<a class="headerlink" href="#id7" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment from file FILE <span class="o">(</span>options<span class="o">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id8">
<h3>Options<a class="headerlink" href="#id8" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following options:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-a</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--all</span></tt></dt>
<dd>Use to upload all environments found at the specified path.</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id9">
<h3>Examples<a class="headerlink" href="#id9" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:</p>
<p><strong>Create an environment from a JSON file</strong></p>
<p>To add an environment using data contained in a JSON file:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment from file <span class="s2">&quot;path to JSON file&quot;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="list">
<h2>list<a class="headerlink" href="#list" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">list</span></tt> argument is used to list all of the environments that are currently available on the Chef server.</p>
<div class="section" id="id10">
<h3>Syntax<a class="headerlink" href="#id10" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment list -w
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id11">
<h3>Options<a class="headerlink" href="#id11" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following options:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-w</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--with-uri</span></tt></dt>
<dd>Use to show the corresponding URIs.</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id12">
<h3>Examples<a class="headerlink" href="#id12" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:</p>
<p><strong>View a list of environments</strong></p>
<p>To view a list of environments:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment list -w
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="show">
<h2>show<a class="headerlink" href="#show" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">show</span></tt> argument is used to display information about the specified environment.</p>
<div class="section" id="id13">
<h3>Syntax<a class="headerlink" href="#id13" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment show ENVIRONMENT_NAME
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id14">
<h3>Options<a class="headerlink" href="#id14" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>This argument has the following options:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-a</span> <span class="pre">ATTR</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--attribute</span> <span class="pre">ATTR</span></tt></dt>
<dd>The attribute (or attributes) to show.</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<div class="section" id="id15">
<h3>Examples<a class="headerlink" href="#id15" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The following examples show how to use this knife subcommand:</p>
<p><strong>Show environments</strong></p>
<p>To view information about the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">dev</span></tt> environment enter:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife environment show dev
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>to return:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre>% knife environment show dev
chef_type:            environment
cookbook_versions:
default_attributes:
description:
json_class:           Chef::Environment
name:                 dev
override_attributes:

<span class="se">\\</span>
<span class="se">\\</span>
<span class="se">\\</span>
<span class="se">\\</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p><strong>Show environments as JSON</strong></p>
<p>To view information in JSON format, use the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-F</span></tt> common option as part of the command like this:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="nv">$ </span>knife role show devops -F json
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Other formats available include <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">text</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">yaml</span></tt>, and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">pp</span></tt>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>


          </div>

      </div>

  
      <div class="clearer"></div>
    </div>




  </body>
</html>
